Ban on sidewalk sitting protested in front of City Hall

A group gathers Saturday evening on the front steps and sidewalk in front of City Hall to protest the recent measure passed by the City Council that makes sitting or lying on sidewalks illegal.
Travis Clark – tclark@digitalfirstmedia.com

SARATOGA SPRINGS >> Residents of Saratoga Springs are standing up for sitting down on sidewalks.

A peaceful protest occurred Saturday evening on the front steps, and sidewalk in front of, City Hall in opposition to the recent measure passed by the City Council that makes sitting or lying on sidewalks illegal, punishable with a small fine for a second offense, but a potentially larger fine, community service or jail time for a third offense.

The protest was organized via Facebook.

The City Council passed the bill during Tuesday’s bi-weekly meeting in which a public hearing was held before the vote. Many were unhappy with the measure, and now that it has passed, they are making their presence known on the sidewalks.

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Many in attendance felt the law is targeting the Saratoga Springs homeless population, despite the City Council reassuring the public that it is a public safety issue.

“I feel this is just a way to sweep things under the rug and hide what the problem actually is,” said Leah Woods. “There are much better solutions for what the problem actually is, and that’s homelessness.”

Shane Frasier, who was holding a sign reading “If I fits, I sits,” said that there are better solutions to tackling the homeless issue, such as finding those individuals rehabilitation services and programs.

Travis Briggs said the law is “highly discriminatory.”

“It takes one group of people and gets rid of them like vermin instead of actually addressing the actual issue,” Briggs said. “I myself have never tripped over a person.”

He said he felt the issue of people sleeping on the sidewalks would be better served with more affordable housing.

Another individual present for the protest, Nicole Baldwin, said that she understands why the law was put in effect, but it’s not the right way to take action.

“The sidewalk does get very crowded but I don’t think that’s why they’re doing the law,” she said. “I think they’re just doing this because it doesn’t look nice to have a lot of homeless people on Broadway.”

The general consensus among the crowd was that the City Council is trying to tackle the homeless issue without outright stating it.

A woman came to the protest carrying signs that she handed out to people. One read “Tonight, we are homeless, too!”